Public appeal helps police net 1000 video clippings, identify 100 troublemakers

Mangaluru: The city police have secured over 1,000 video clippings after they put out an appeal to the public to share pictures and videos to identify rioteers during CAA-related unrest in Mangaluru on December 19.

On the basis of these high-quality images, the police have been able to identify around 100 people. Thanking people for their overwhelming support, city police commissioner Dr Harsha remarked that the police would not have netted this kind of evidence in such a short period of time if not for crowdsourcing.

In an appeal made to the public for sharing video clippings of the violence, the police had assured to maintain confidentiality of the tipsters.

A total of 24 cases have been registered in various stations of the city (10 cases in Mangaluru North, 13 in Mangaluru South and 1 case in Rural police station) in connection to the December 19 unrest and eight persons have been held.

As per sources, more people are coming forward to report miscreants and submit evidence to the police. Footage of about 60 CCTV cameras is being reviewed.

Meanwhile a technical team, comprising of personnel from the cyber cell, city crime branch, and internal security department, are reviewing huge amount of material. The authorities or independent organisations have however not commented on the authenticity of the clips.

The state government on Monday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the violence and the subsequent police firing which left two people dead during Anti-CAA demonstrations in Mangaluru on December 19